Weaving together seemingly disparate storylines from across the globe, Adam Curtis’ Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’s meandering historical doc is a little harder to piece together than his previous ones like, Century of Self and Hyper Normalization. It’s not for the novice doc watcher who prefers a more linear presentation. CGOOMH is a good fit for those who appreciate slightly offbeat, analog experimenation in your docs that take the broad view of events and edge along existential questions. If already an Adam Curtis fan, you will feel right at home in his slow-burn remix of archival footage, poignant musical interludes and assured narration. Recounting the political machinations and sociological influences across the globe post-war WW2 until now, Curtis eases into his thesis with no rush while laying down alot of breadcrumbs along the way of a very winding path. The beauty of the slow reveal, which comes in the series later half, made the hours worthwhile as its threads of converging historical tracts are prescient to current day global power shifts.

A recent interview with Curtis revealed a self-aware man who knows he too is very much a product of his time. Curtis who is an OG archival footage remixer remarked on his own place within present-day pop culture’s compulsion to reboot/remake everything.

“There’s that moment from about 1992 through to 1996 when you started to get things that constantly referred to other things. Reality and the idea of changing reality began to disappear. To be honest, I’m part of the problem too because that’s pretty much when I started taking on bits of archive and slapping them together, in a knowing way.”

Adma Curtis

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p093wp6h/cant-get-you-out-of-my-head